1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a connector which can be engaged with a partner connector by rotationally operating a lever.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, as a connector which can be engaged with a partner connector by rotationally operating a lever, there is known a connector shown in FIG. 10 (for example, see Japanese Patent Publication Hei-5-129048).
As shown in FIG. 10, a connector 100 disclosed in Patent Reference 1 includes a female connector 101, a frame 102 to be mounted on the female connector 101, and a male connector 105 including a cam pin 106 provided on and projected from the male connector 105.
In the female connector 101, there are formed pin guide grooves 103 which respectively extend backwardly from the insertion opening of the female connector 101 into which the male connector 105 can be inserted. And, in the frame 102 as well, there are formed guide grooves 104 which can coincide with the pin guide grooves 103 of the female connector 101 in a state where the frame 102 is mounted on the female connector 101.
And, a lever 107 is rotatably mounted on the frame 102 and, in the lever 107, there is formed a cam groove 108. The cam groove 108 is structured such that, in a state where the lever 107 is held at an initial position (a position shown in FIG. 10), the entrance opening of the cam groove 108 coincides with the entrance opening of the pin guide groove 104 and the cam groove 108 extends from the entrance opening thereof so as to approach gradually the rotation axis of the lever 107.
When the male connector 105 is inserted into the female connector 101 with the frame 102 mounted thereon, the cam pin 106 of the male connector 105 not only enters the entrance openings of the pin guide groove 103 of the female connector 101 and the pin guide groove 104 of the frame 102 but also enters the entrance opening of the cam groove 108 of the lever 107 held at the initial position, so that the cam pin 106 is engaged with the cam groove 108.
And, when the lever 107 is operated and rotated, the cam groove 108 catches the cam pin 106 and pushes the cam pin 106 toward the rear ends of the guide grooves 103 and 104, whereby the female and male connectors 101 and 105 can be completely engaged with each other.
However, in the lever type connector 100 disclosed in Patent Reference 1, when the lever 107 is not held at the initial position and the entrance opening of the cam groove 108 of the lever 107 is not coincident with the entrance opening of the pin guide groove 104 of the frame 102, the cam pin 106 of the male connector 105 cannot be made to enter the pin guide groove 103 of the female connector 101 and the pin guide groove 104 of the frame 102, with the result that the female and male connectors 101 and 105 cannot be engaged with each other. Therefore, it takes time and labor to return the lever 107 to the initial position.
In view of this, in the connector 100, in the frame 102 and lever 107, there are provided engaging projections which can be engaged with each other, so that the lever 107 can be held stably at the initial position due to the mutual engagement of these engaging projections.
However, if sufficient strength to positively hold the lever 107 at the initial position is given to the engagement of the engaging projections, when rotating the lever 107 for bringing the female and male connectors 101 and 105 into mutual engagement, there is necessary great power to remove the engagement between the engaging projections, which raises a fear that the operation efficiency of the connector can be lowered.
On the other hand, when the strength of the engagement between the engagement projections is set relatively low while priority is given to the operation efficiency in engaging the female and male connectors 101 and 105, there is a fear that, for example, while delivering the connector 100, an external force can be applied to the lever 107 due to the contact of the connector 100 with other connector to thereby remove the engagement between the engaging projections easily. Especially, since the lever 107 is exposed to the outside, there is a relatively high possibility that an external force can be applied to the lever 107.